What do students think of the new 110km/h speed limit on the Christchurch Southern Motorway?

SOURCE: Matias Gidden

As speed increases, so do opinions. The Christchurch Southern Motorway is the latest stretch of road to get people revving.

On 13 April, Christchurch’s Southern Motorway’s speed limit was changed from 100km/h to 110km/h. Following the increase, opinions vary on whether the new limit changes anything for motorists.  

With the new limit now being around for just over a month, I was curious to see what students thought about the change.

Canta put out polls on their Instagram asking students what their overall thoughts of the new limit were.

From the polls conducted, Canta got 394 responses to a poll asking whether or not students knew about the new limit, of which 71% of respondents said they knew of the new limit, while 29% said they didn’t.

The other poll asked if students agreed with the increase or not, gaining 335 responses, with 65% of those responses saying they agreed with the increased speed limit, and the other 35% not agreeing.

The polls also invited students to voice their opinions or share any experiences they have had with the new limit, with many citing their travel times being reduced with the new limit in place.

“It's made travel time much quicker!” Said one respondent. “Makes getting to work a lot quicker,” said another.

SOURCE: Matias Gidden

When the change was announced in late 2024 after consultation from the NZTA, Associate Transport Minister and Minister for the South Island James Meager said the change would help reduce commute times for drivers, indicating that more people could effectively use the route.

The new limit is the first to be introduced to the South Island and applies to a 17.7km stretch of road from the Curletts Road interchange in Addington to the Weedons Road interchange in Rolleston, which is used by up to 38,000 vehicles daily.

While many students highlighted the speed increase has reduced commute times, others questioned if more speed and less time spent on commutes was a good trade-off for making the motorway feel less safe.

“I drive in it every day of the week. Makes it a lot less safe in return for saving maybe 3 minutes,” said one respondent.

Another respondent thought “people on the motorway are going much faster than 110, which is causing more crashes.” Another shared a similar opinion, “was stuck behind a crash just before Rolleston last week, the road trip took an extra hour.”

Other respondents also outlined that the new limit directly goes against the old government campaign ‘Road to Zero’, which was introduced by the previous Labour government, setting a target of zero road deaths and serious injuries by 2050, before being scrapped by the current National government last year.

With the introduced limit still in its infancy, only time will tell if students’ opinions will remain the same, and if Christchurch motorists are truly enjoying life in the fast lane.